Shiloh Pines Wildfire Preparedness Meeting, Mar. 7 – Healthy trees are vital to wildfire fuel reduction

April 1, 2026

Highlights

Forester Dave Root emphasizes active forest management and fuels reduction to reduce wildfire risk, noting that proper management leads to healthier forests and fewer dangerous conditions.
He points to a century of fire suppression creating unnaturally dense forests, with Palmer Lake example showing transformation from sparse trees in 1880 to thick, unhealthy stands today.
Root explains that wildfires are natural, but accumulation of fuels and homes within the trees amplify risk; selective removal yields an open forest of vigorous trees.
The best defense against mountain pine beetle (MPB) is a healthy, well-spaced forest; overcrowded or stressed trees invite beetle attacks and associated blue stain fungus.
MPB treatments are limited to tree removal, mechanical methods, or solar treatments; infected trees should be handled carefully to avoid spreading the problem.

By Lisa Hatfield

Forester Dave Root taught Shiloh Pines residents how to have a healthy forest and do fuels reduction to lessen wildfire risk, saying, “When you do one, you get the other!” Because of a century of fire suppression, we have a very unnatural, overly dense forest. For example, Palmer Lake in 1880 had hardly any trees at all, but now it’s surrounded by thick stands of unhealthy trees. Root said wildfires are a natural occurrence, but the combination of a century of fuel built up in the woods with no small fires allowed to clear it out, and homes built in the middle of the trees, creates the severe problem we have today.

**Caption**: Forester Dave Root, left, with Shiloh Pines resident Mike Ballard. Firewise Chair Gayle Humm (not pictured) invited Root to visit her community so Shiloh Pines residents could hear his advice and ask questions on March 7. Photo by Lisa Hatfield

He said you need to actively “manage” your forest. Identify the most vigorous trees that receive enough sunlight and water to be strong and resist disease and insects. Then remove all the unhealthy, scraggly, lopsided trees, resulting in an open forest made of vigorous trees.

**Caption**: W. H. Jackson’s ca. 1880 photo of Palmer Lake documents how open the landscape was then, when healthy forests experienced frequent, low-intensity fires. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

The best prevention against mountain pine beetle (MPB) attacks is to have a healthy, historically accurate forest full of strong trees. They will resist the beetle attacks with big “pitchout” tubes. However, if your trees are overcrowded, starved for sunlight, thirsty, or infected with other parasites like dwarf mistletoe, you will see MPB’s multiple popcorn-shaped resin masses all over the trunk, and the blue stain fungus carried by the MPB can kill the tree. Meanwhile, the beetles can spread to neighboring trees.

The only effective MPB treatments are tree removal, mechanical, or solar treatments. If you have infected trees, read here first how to treat them properly without spreading the problem further. See https://csfs.colostate.edu/forest-management/common-forest-insects-diseases/mountain-pine-beetle/. Contact the Colorado State Forest Service with questions about your forest health or wildfire risk on your property.

Lisa Hatfield can be reached at LisaHatfield@ocn.me.

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